Audio Video News

<I>Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano. Directed by Christopher Nolan. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Surround. 113 minutes. 2001. Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment 06598. R. $24.95.</I>

Never a company to rest on its previous accomplishments, Mississauga, Ontario-based Sonic Frontiers International is pushing the limits of home theater performance with the Anthem AVM 20, its newest multi-zone preamplifier /processor/tuner. With inputs for up to 7.1 channels of audio, and full bass management capabilities, the AVM ("Audio Video Master") is certain to please the most exacting movie and music fans.

The recent round of Emmys handed out by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has seen several consumer electronics manufacturers lauded for their technical achievements.

Anticipating prolonged strikes by both actors and screenwriters, the film industry earlier this year kicked into hurry-up mode, finishing an unprecedented number of movies before the mid-year deadline for contract renewals.

The electronics world was astounded when the Digital Versatile Disc appeared, offering more than six times the storage capacity of standard compact discs. The trend toward ever greater data capacity continues, to the delight of engineers and technophiles everywhere.

Die-hard fans of the sci-fi film <I>The Matrix</I> will soon have a purchasing decision to make: Is Warner Home Video's latest <I>Matrix</I>-related DVD project a welcome new morsel of valuable information or the latest example of the movie industry's ongoing attempts to milk customers for all they're worth?

Only four years after its official introduction, the Digital Versatile Disc has made its way into one of every three American homes, according to a study released in early October by the <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA). The market's remarkably rapid acceptance of the technology has cemented DVD's position as the "fastest selling consumer electronics product of all time." The amazing number of players in consumers' hands is attributable to DVD's vastly better picture and sound, compared to videotape, and to extremely attractive prices. Basic players can now be found almost everywhere for well under $200.